Overview
- A funeral service for 12-year-old Abel Mwansa Jr. was held Monday in Kitwe after his body arrived in Zambia on Saturday aboard a government plane.
- The casket was received by a delegation that included Zambian Foreign Affairs Minister Mulambo Haimbe and Canada’s chargé d’affaires Corry Van Gaal, who offered condolences.
- Abel Mwansa Sr. said the family is “eternally grateful” to both governments and thanked MP Bob Zimmer, the Tumbler Ridge Parent Advisory Council and Red Cross Canada for assistance.
- Mwansa Jr. was one of six people killed at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Feb. 10; police say the 18-year-old shooter also killed their mother and half-brother at a nearby home before dying of a self-inflicted injury.
- The family moved from Zambia to Tumbler Ridge in 2023, and friends and relatives described Abel as respectful, responsible and hardworking.